''We go...West, through the seas and to glorious victories!'' 

Those words had echoed in the minds of all the warriors who hailed from the Norse town of Bravöllr for all the rest of winter, for when summer started came the time for raiding. All aspects of life was very hard in the north where those people, who would come to be known as Vikings, or Norsemen, originated from. They were master ships builder and they used those to launch devastating hit and run raid on any villages that had the back luck of being near a coast. It was the only way they knew to keep on living and gaining riches in such a hostile birth place. The Earl of Bravöllr had always lead his warriors east, along with the rest of the tribes, but the loot there was only becoming smaller and smaller. Very soon the need for more arose, but the man was too scared to take a definitive action. The Earl had a wife named Sigrid Torstendatter, a warrior in all rights and a very strong woman. She herself provoked her weak and fearful husband to a death duel, Einvigi, for the right of becoming an Earl herself. The woman won the duel and the loyalty of every man or woman in the town, as well as the title she fought for. 

It was then that she spoke the words that everyone wanted to hear, for they had heard of an unknown land full of riches to the west, through the sea. They had the instruments to travel the endless sea now, and only a strong willed leader was needed to do so. Sigrid was exactly that. Soon the warriors bid farewell to their family and left for an unknown destination. The travel had been long and perilous, some men even lost their life through storms at sea or madness, but the ships, guided by Thor, eventually had land in sight. They had made camp and, immediately after, left for glorious battle. They had quickly found a small settlement and proceeded to sack it, murdering anyone in sight let it be men, women and children. The riches found were much more than anyone had ever imagined, and it is with encouraged minds that they left back to their camps. 

The kingdom on which shores the Vikings had landed was known as Northumbria. It's king was named Osric and he was outraged at the news of this massacre within his own kingdom's borders. The Norsemen were no good news at all, and he had to act swiftly. He had asked his son, the prince, to gather a force with which he'd meet these savages...and meet they did on the outskirts of a town not so far to the east of the first sacked one. The Vikings were fierce warriors indeed, and the Saxons were defeated and forced to retreat...however not empty handed for they had caught what one of them described as the leader. They made their retreat back to Edinburgh, the capital of Northumbria, where the woman was brought in front of the king's court. 

She was unlike any woman who lived on these lands. Sigrid's eyes were surrounded by black war paint and her hair, dirty with mud and blood from previous battle, were also braided in a way that was obviously meant for battle. He clothes was nothing like those of a high ranking person. Instead, she wore simple tunics under her leather armor of strange designs. The woman was questioned, but obviously could not speak the Saxon's tongues and she was then sent to a cell while deciding what should be done with her. 

While in front of the king, Sigrid had noticed another woman standing close to him, to his left. The man she fought against on the battlefield was to his right, and the Shield-maiden quickly understood they must have been the king's daughter and son. Her eyes locked with those of the princess for a little while before she was brought away.